Brea makes new offer to patrol Yorba Linda

Brea Police Chief Jack Conklin sits behind Sheriff Sandra Hutchens in April during a Yorba Linda City Council meeting. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

YORBA LINDA – The competition to provide police services for Yorba Linda isn't over – at least not in the minds of Brea city officials.

Brea City Manager Tim O'Donnell recently sent Yorba Linda administrators an offer to counter one made by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to patrol the city – a proposal the Yorba Linda City Council will now examine during its July 3 regular meeting.

Earlier this year, a divided Yorba Linda City Council voted to move forward with the Sheriff's Department taking over Yorba Linda police coverage, a contract the Brea Police Department has held for more than 40 years.

The proposal from the Sheriff's Department chosen by the City Council would cost the city just under $9.2 million for a year, including start-up costs. The deal with the Sheriff's Department listed costs of $9.8 million, but sheriff's officials have agreed to cut the price by more than $600,000 a year because a new station that will be built will also house deputies who patrol county pockets in and around Yorba Linda.

In the letter, O'Donnell said his city could do better: He offered an $8.9 million annual deal, starting July 1, drastically less than the previous offer of retaining the current staffing level for $10.7 million, or cutting two officers to lower the price to $10.3 million. Yorba Linda's current contract with Brea runs through early May 2013.

The Brea proposal, O'Donnell said, involves reducing the number of police officers to what the Sheriff's Department would provide, and offering free dispatch and other services. In addition, O'Donnell said Brea is willing to negotiate pension liability and other costs.

"We're dead serious about it. We value this relationship," O'Donnell said in an interview.

On Tuesday, it was unclear how Brea's and the Sheriff's Department's offers matched up in regard to the numbers of officers on the street.

Sheriff's Department officials are aware of the counteroffer, but don't plan on changing course.

Brea's proposal, Sheriff's Capt. Steve Doan said, "is not changing what the Sheriff's Department is doing as far as providing policing to the city of Yorba Linda."

Should Yorba Linda suddenly change course, it won't affect the Sheriff's Department, as the status quo will remain, Doan said, with three deputies patrolling county pockets in and around Yorba Linda.

O'Donnell said the new proposal throws in the gratis dispatch services because Brea police, even without the Yorba Linda component, would still require the same number of dispatchers.

A flier making its way around Brea urges residents there to oppose the counteroffer, essentially saying that Brea would be subsidizing police services in Yorba Linda.

"I've gotten six e-mails so far, and so has the council," O'Donnell said, adding that he believes the Sheriff's Department union distributed the fliers.

"It's not a subsidy by any definition. It's a business decision," O'Donnell said. "That money would have to be spent anyway, or more."

In the meantime, Brea will plan on a police department sans Yorba Linda. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has promised to pull Yorba Linda-assigned officers into her department, but O'Donnell said one officer has already left the Brea department, and others are looking for work elsewhere.

Other than saying the counteroffer will go before the City Council, Yorba Linda administrators have kept mum about the counteroffer. O'Donnell said, however, that Brea has caught Yorba Linda's attention.

From the moment last fall when Yorba Linda council members said they would explore options outside of Brea police, O'Donnell said, the central issue has not been service, but cost.

Related Links

Brea Police Chief Jack Conklin sits behind Sheriff Sandra Hutchens in April during a Yorba Linda City Council meeting. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Residents packed a Yorba Linda City Council meeting when the panel was deciding which police agency it wanted to patrol the community. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Many Yorba Linda residents wanted to keep Brea as the city's police force. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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